Cold Coffee
by tamy-blue
Summary: Suddenly a strange cold took hold of his body and his mind. He was frozen in the middle of the large room, but inside he could hear himself screaming angry, scared. Something inside him, in the middle of his chest, seemed to have been broken. Tony was gone Yeah, another what if... fic. What if Tony took the Rota promotion after "Hiatus I & II"?


Inside the elevator, McGee took a breath and let it out slowly. The agent tried to relax, think positive. When he refilled his lungs with air, the aroma of coffee assaulted his senses. In his hands, the tray with different coffee cups trembled a little as the door opened again.

McGee took a step forward, squared his shoulders and tried to remember that Tony usually didn't keep a grudge. Although this time, Tim did not have all with him. He still did not know exactly why last night he had felt the irresistible urge to hurt his friend.

Yes, after a whole night thinking about it, reliving the conversation in his mind, McGee was honest enough to admit that he had said those words with the clear intention to hurt Tony. And the shadow that for a moment he could see in the green eyes of the other man had been enough to let him know that he had done it. But instead of feeling satisfaction, McGee had been consumed then by shame and guilt.

He shook his head, trying to banish those thoughts. After thinking much about his words and his behaviour towards Tony in those last months, Tim had decided to prove to Tony that his comment had been out of place and that he really respected him, not just as an agent, but as his friend as well.

"Good morning McGee." Ziva's voice at his back startled him, making him almost throw the tray with the hot drinks.

"Do not do that!" Despite his irritation, the young man offered her a cup of tea, just the way she liked it, with honey and milk.

"Thank you, McGee". With a small nod and a mischievous smile, Ziva sat behind her desk sipping her delicious tea.

McGee's brow furrowed slightly as he realized that Tony was not in his workplace. He looked at his watch and saw that it was only 08:05. 'Maybe he has run into traffic', Tim thought leaving the cup of coffee in a corner of Dinozzo's desk.

He smiled a little at the thought of the surprised look in Tony's face once the Senior Agent found that it was his favourite; Caramel Macchiato with hazelnut cream. McGee knew it was a crude attempt to bribe him, but he was hoping to appeal to the sweet tooth of Tony and sweeten the damage.

Half an hour later, Ziva and he exchanged a look of anxiety. Tony still was missing from the bullpen. Neither Gibbs had appeared there, although his jacket was hanging on the back of his chair.

"Try again, Tim". Ziva's eyes sparkled under the lights of the room, a strange and apprehensive spark in them. McGee dialled again the phone number of Tony but after several attempts, his only response was the impersonal voicemail message.

His stomach suddenly shrank into a knot, taking his breath away. He didn't know why but he was sure that something bad was going to happen. Or maybe it had already happened. Just as he was about to try again, this time with Tony's apartment, Gibbs appeared on the scene as a furious hurricane. Sheppard went down the stairs behind him, in a much quieter way.

"Jethro"

"No! I don't want to hear it!" Gibbs moved toward her and for a moment McGee feared that Gibb would strike her. "You had no right! You cannot take Dinozzo off my team; I demand that you bring him back. Now!"

At the name of his partner McGee rose to his feet. What was happening? What had the Director done?

"Tony has been fired?" The words came out of his mouth almost without him realizing it.

"In fact, Agent McGee, I've done just the opposite." Jennifer Sheppard's voice would have made hell freeze. "Tony did a splendid job as team leader in the absence of Gibbs. Don't you think, Agent Gibbs?"

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not a violent man. Despite his past as a Marine, and his well-known brusque character, he wasn't a violent man. His pride prevented him from letting his passion took control of him. But in that moment the desire to punch the woman who had stolen the person who meant the most in his life was about to make him explode.

"Boss?" McGee's voice somehow made his way through the fog that clouded his mind. He turned to look at the young agent who suddenly looked like the nervous probie he had been once. Tim's eyes were wide opened and full of uncertainty, fear and guilt. 'Oh yeah', Gibbs thought, 'we all have a lot to feel guilty'.

"I do not understand. What's going on?" Ziva was suddenly standing next to Gibbs, fists clenched tight on both sides of her body, chin up and eyes very black and hard as onyx. "Where is Tony?"

Sheppard sighed. She had known that this would happen, that none of the present there would welcome the news.

"Tony has accepted a great opportunity. I offered him his own team, full time. And after all, he decided it was time to go" 'McGee could not help but wince remembering his last conversation with DiNozzo. '_Temporary team leader, Tony'_.

He could barely swallow through the lump in his throat. It could not be, that was not happening, any time now and he would wake up and everything would be as usual. Tony would be at his desk throwing paper balls to Ziva and teasing him and ... God, why could he not wake up from this nightmare?!

"Tell them where". Gibbs drew his attention back to the present, to the terrible reality. Tony was gone. He had left without saying goodbye, without giving him the opportunity to apologize.

"Spain. I offered DiNozzo to be the new team leader in Rota, Spain."

Murmurs of surprise, admiration and envy spread around the bullpen as a shock wave. Ziva took several steps back, as if she had been slapped. Gibbs was again arguing with Sheppard. But McGee couldn't listen to them. He could not see them.

Suddenly a strange cold took hold of his body and his mind. He was frozen in the middle of the large room, but inside he could hear himself screaming angry, scared. Something inside him, in the middle of his chest, seemed to have been broken. Tony was gone. He had lost a colleague, a partner, a mentor. His best friend. And it was his fault, his own damn fault. Because he had failed Tony. Instead of supporting him, help him in the difficult task of filling the void left by Gibbs's departure, he had made fun at his expense, mocking, disobeying his orders as a spoiled and resentful brat.

"McGee, breathe". A voice in the distance pulled him out of his stupor. Little by little he regained consciousness of where he was. And he was standing in the middle of the bullpen, Gibbs's hands on his shoulders, holding him gently.

"Boss" Just a whisper, a single word escaped his lips. But staring at the other man's eyes, he knew he did not need to say anything else. Gibbs knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to say, what he regretted.

"I'll fix it, Tim" Gibbs shook him a little until McGee nodded weakly. "I'll get back Dinozzo, I promise". After that, Gibbs went back up the stairs to the Director's office.

Shakily the young officer staggered to his desk and then collapsed in his chair. He could not help taking a look at the other side, to Tony's desk, as if expecting him to materialize in the air just by wishing it. But it didn't happen, Tony's chair continued to be empty, his computer was off, the desk clean and tidy, something he had not noticed before. And on the edge of the table, just where just hours before he had left it, was the cup of coffee. Tony's favourite.

Looking at it, McGee had suddenly a shameful desire to cry, thinking foolishly that Tony hated finding his coffee had got cold.


End file.
